The EU-funded project ‘Valorisation of Biomass Energy and Clean Cooking’ (VABICUI), implemented by Enabel in Côte d’Ivoire, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through supporting organic waste from agriculture to energy projects and promoting more efficient cooking methods. As part of this programme, Enabel is supporting four companies, to help them make better use of their residues with the aim of reducing conventional energy consumption and creating local jobs. These companies were selected after a competitive process.
MARGE was tasked to work with the 4 selected companies and to carry out a feasibility study covering the technical, economic and financial aspects of the following projects:
- A unit for converting rice husks into briquettes and/or electricity
- A unit for producing CNSL (Cashew Net Shell Liquid, or cashew nutshell oil)
- Two biodigesters for producing biogas from cassava waste and chicken manure to produce electricity and/or heat
These studies were conducted between August and Decembers 2025 and resulted in four final reports that were presented to the four companies. The main findings were:
- The most promising project on a financial perspective is production of CNSL; cashew shells are plentiful and almost free to get in the project location, the company has space and some equipment for CNSL production and there’s an important international market. The national market could also be promising, but needs to be developed.
- Small scale projects to produce heat, briquettes and/or electricity are not interesting financially and would not generate enough revenue because they are small scale and because grid electricity is cheap in Ivory Coast.
- These smaller projects could be viable with some subsidies, which could be justified based on the positive social (circular economy, employment) and environmental impacts these projects would generate.